Special to Savannah Morning News Savannah poet Patricia Lockwood reads at The Book Lady during a release event for her collection "Balloon Pop Outlaw Black," which was named one of the best books of 2012 by The New Yorker and the Chicago Tribune.

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The Savannah Book Festival has steadily grown since its inception in 2007, and this year may be the biggest to date — thanks in no small part to keynote speaker James Patterson, the Guinness World Record holder for most hardcover fiction bestsellers: 76.

And there’s no question that “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” The Book, continues to be an integral part of Savannah’s popularity as a tourist destination.

But locals and visitors alike can get their literary fix year-round through the Hostess City’s downtown “literary triangle” — the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, The Book Lady Bookstore and E. Shaver, Bookseller. Any book lover should add the half-mile stroll encompassing these three destinations to their itinerary. And each location regularly features special literary events.

Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home

The Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home is not only a literary landmark but also an active literary center in Savannah.

“The Gulfstream Spring Lecture series will include Christopher Hope (on March 24), an award-winning South African novelist and poet who is known for his controversial works dealing with racism and politics in South Africa,” says president Helen Borrello. “We’re also planning our annual Ursrey Memorial Lecture and look forward to building on the success of last year’s talk by Luis Alberto Urrea.”

The same weekend, the Home will celebrate O’Connor’s birthday with a March 23 garden party and parade for all ages.

Honoring this literary great is important because “her writing provides a nuanced and often humorous window, not only into the region, but also into profound questions of human vulnerability and spiritual need,” Borrello says.

The Home is proud to be part of Savannah’s literary scene, which Borrello says is made up of “creative individuals working alone and in concert with groups including nonprofits, the Live Oak Public Libraries, bookstores, cafes and universities.”

“We at the Home are happy to collaborate in preserving O’Connor’s legacy both by focusing on her life and works and by encouraging writers and readers of today and tomorrow.”

The Book Lady has been a longtime fixture on Savannah’s literary map, but owner Joni Saxon-Giusti is quick to point out the many organizations that have helped Savannah’s writing community thrive beyond the triangle.

“Seersucker Live, The Unchained Tour, the Georgia Historical Society, the Poetry Society of Georgia, Telfair Museums, the Black Expo, the Wormsloe Foundation, the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home, the Psychotronic Film Society, Ossabaw Island Foundation, The Learning Center of Senior Citizens Inc. and others” all work with The Book Lady and the authors it represents, Saxon-Giusti says.

“Maybe it is best described as a mutually reinforcing literary cabal,” she jokes.

Saxon-Giusti also loves the Savannah Book Festival because “local participants unique to Savannah ... add so much to the festival atmosphere and ensure a future pool of local supporters. Savannah’s current wealth of local literary talent is a resource that should not be left untapped.”

And for those worried about the future of independent bookstores, Saxon-Giusti promises that “the rumors of the independent bookstores’ demise have been greatly exaggerated. In a very busy and computer-centric life, people will always have the desire for good company and good books and the places that promote them.

Completing the literary triangle is E. Shaver, Bookseller, which opened its doors in 1975. Esther Shaver got things started and still runs it today.

Previously in the book business in Louisville, Ky., Shaver explains that on a visit to our city, she “fell in love with Savannah and thought, ‘We have to live here.’”

So Shaver bought the space on Madison Square and didn’t look back.

“I love everything about it,” she says. “I love working with people every day. I have the best staff, and people are so appreciative.

“This store predates the Internet, Amazon and chains, so people love it, (especially) because most cities don’t have an independent bookstore.”

Shaver feels she and the other literary landmarks are able to thrive in Savannah because “people that are tourists in Savannah are also the same people that love books. We are so happy that the Book Festival has done so well, too.”

With Tuesday’s announcement that former vice president Al Gore has joined its lineup next month, the Savannah Book Festival begs the question — can this marquee event get any bigger?

After last year’s Stephen King appearance, it looked like organizers would have their hands full building on the momentum of 2012. It’s safe to say that’s no longer the case, with the Feb. 14-17 schedule now including Gore, James Patterson (the best-selling author, maybe, in the world), David Baldacci, T.C. Boyle, Dave Barry, Jeff Kinney (“Diary of a Wimpy Kid”), Bobby Deen and Gregg Allman.

Following in those giant-sized footsteps, anything short of J.K. Rowling in 2014 may be a huge letdown. But you can be sure organizers aren’t sweating it. Tickets and info at savannahbookfestival.org.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Flannery O’Connor Home

• 3-5 p.m. March 23. Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home. Come celebrate Flannery O’Connor’s birthday in the house where she grew up, with an accompanying parade in Lafayette Square. Official parade time and admission prices to be determined, but likely $25 adults, $5 children.

• 4 p.m. March 24. Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home. South African author Christopher Hope will appear as part of the Gulfstream Spring Lecture series. Hope’s work deals with racism and politics in his homeland. Free

The Book Lady

• 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18 at The Sparetime (upstairs), corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Congress Street. Local reading and music series Seersucker Live returns with The Georgia Review for an evening of literature and entertainment. Georgia Review editor Stephen Corey, novelist Liza Wieland and 2012 Georgia Author of the Year Alice Friman will perform original pieces. The Book Lady will be on hand selling copies. 18-and-up with ID. $10

• 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at The Book Lady. Seersucker Shots poetry reading with poets Heather Christle, Christopher DeWeese and Mark Leidner from Amherst, Mass. Christle is the author of three collections, including the Believer Book Award-winning “The Trees The Trees.” DeWeese is the author of “The Black Forest,” and Leidner’s “Beauty Was the Case that They Gave Me” was one of the best poetry books of 2011. Free

E. Shaver, Bookseller

• 4 p.m. Feb. 1: Steven C. Hahn reading and signing for “The Life and Times of Mary Musgrove.” Free

If you’re planning to check out Savannah’s literary triangle and need a place to park your wheels, try any of the side streets along the middle and south ends of Lafayette Square, just north of the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home. There’s usually ample on-street parking, and much of it is meter-free.